The present invention relates to apparatus for handling cylindrical objects and particularly to apparatus handling drums containing hazardous materials.
Drums containing hazardous material are often deposited in a haphazard manner at a dump site. The drums can be in any orientation. Because of the hazardous nature and weight of the material in the drums, it is necessary to handle the drums with mechanical lifts or cranes while protecting dump cleanup personnel from exposure to the hazardous material. Various grappling devices can be used. The prior art devices generally have one or more deficiencies such as not being able to control drums in certain orientations, damaging or mishandling the drums to cause the hazardous material to spill, and/or being difficult to operate. The prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,038,620; 3,438,523; 3,438,669; 3,876,100; and 4,243,355. It should be noted that none of the prior art patents has a drum handler which is capable of rotating the drum through 360.degree..